A woman sued by a businessman who tricked her for financial reasons into believing he was dating a model has been ordered by a judge to stay away from the woman, who has said he would stop at nothing to get her back in a relationship.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Swift issued a temporary restraining order on behalf of Stefanie Gurzanski on Tuesday, ordering Stephen J. Cloobeck not to come within 100 yards of her, his home, his place of work, his vehicle and his 54-year-old mother, Sandra Gurzanski. .
“Stephen has made it very clear that unless I come back into our relationship, he will continue to threaten and harass me and try to ruin my life,” Gurzanski said in a sworn statement. “I feel like he’s acting irrationally.”
Cloobeck, 59, filed the first legal volley when he filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, naming matchmaker Katherine Abigail Le, Gurzanski’s 23-year-old friend, and Adrianna Suchor as defendants.
Cloobeck alleges fraud, theft, unjust enrichment and invasion of privacy.
According to the lawsuit, Cloobeck is a “single, successful businessman” who Le introduced herself to as a matchmaker for men like himself.
“Le told Cloobeck that she could find him a wife who would care for him, love him and cherish him for the rest of his life,” the suit reads.
Cloobeck accepted Le’s invitation and last summer Le introduced Cloobeck to Gurzanski, telling him she was “a top model“, a “good girl” and a “woman of his dreams who would be with him forever”. .
“Instead, she (Gurzanski) is a con artist, looking for her next brand from whom she can take as much property as possible while pretending to be in love,” the lawsuit states.
“As a result of Gurzanski’s fraud, Cloobeck’s heart was broken and he was deprived of significant assets.”
Gurzanski said in her statement that she was the one who was cheated on by Cloobeck after they met July 30 at his home.
“I told him about my successful modeling career and the businesses I was involved in,” she said. “Stephen also talked about his life.
“I felt that Stephen and I had chemistry and I became interested in spending more time with him. Late in the evening, Stephen asked me to go out with him the next day.’
Early in the relationship, Cloobeck gave Gurzanski a credit card and told her she could buy whatever she wanted, she said. He also started buying her gifts and said, “Now you can never leave me” and “You’re going to be dealing with me forever” and “I’ll be haunting you for the next 10 to 20 years,” according to Gurzansky.
“These statements made me uncomfortable,” Gurzanski said.
Cloobeck began harassing Gurzanski about her modeling career on Christmas Eve, she said.
“He started telling me that I was no longer allowed to post pictures on Onlyfans.com,” she said, referring to the content subscription service. “I told him that I was going to continue doing my job because it is a source of income.”
On Christmas Day, Cloobeck asked her to marry him, but she refused and told him she wanted to end their relationship, Gurzanski said.
“The day after I told Stephen that I didn’t want to be in a relationship with him anymore, he became unhinged and started abusing and harassing me,” Gurzanski said.
“He started attacking me and everyone around me with the intention of hurting me, isolating me from my friends and family, and he also started trying to destroy my financial independence.”
Gurzanski said she hired a security guard “because I’m afraid of getting hurt.”
A hearing is scheduled for February 2 on whether to extend the temporary restraining order.
